Tip - The trick is to start the timer at the very first
sign of boiling; if you wait until it is at a full boil to start the
clock, your caramel will get way to hard or use a candy thermometer for
best results

Remove saucepan from heat and immediately add baking soda and
vanilla, stirring quickly as it foams up, sizzles and settles back down

Immediately pour caramel mixture over popcorn, pretzels and peanuts and mix quickly using both spoons until very well coated

Spoon mixture onto the well greased large baking sheet (I prefer a well greased tray but some people use parchment paper)

Bake for 1 hour, stirring popcorn every 15 minutes

After removing baking sheet from oven, sprinkle the candy corn
and candy coated chocolates evenly, do not stir - just allow them to
melt a little from the heat of the popcorn

Cool completely, break into pieces and store in an airtight container

Soak sticky caramel covered dishes in hot, soapy water as soon
as possible, after a few minutes the caramel will rinse off easily

Important Safety Note: Caramel popcorn is great for kids to eat, not to make. The extremely high temperature of the caramel and the caramel popcorn makes it very dangerous for children. Adults should be very careful to avoid touching hot caramel and hot caramel covered popcorn when making, mixing and baking caramel popcorn.

Decorating Halloween Popcorn Gifts...

When it comes to decorating and packaging Halloween gifts, your local dollar store is a great place to get a bag of plastic bugs, some creepy halloween candy, maybe even a festive bowl and some halloween ribbon.

Use these items to decorate bags, jars, tins and bowls of crunchy caramel Halloween popcorn. It's a chance to let out the child within and play with some creepy, crawly, spooky toys and decorations...

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